Rollins College

2016 success story

Longtime TurboVote partner Rollins College has spread the word about TurboVote on campus in numerous ways over the years. With increased resources in a presidential election year, they engaged with faculty in a way they previously were unable to.

Administrators reaching out faculty

Marissa Corrente, Associate Director of the Center for Leadership & Community Engagement, sent an email to faculty at the beginning of the fall semester to let them know that her team was available to give 10-15 minute presentations on voting to classes. A few faculty members took her up on her offer.

In hopes of creating more interest, the President of Rollins College sent an email to faculty letting them know that these presentations were available to them. The response was similar; a few more professors were open to presentations on voting in their classes.

Faculty reaching out to faculty

Eventually, a faculty member who invited the team to present in her class was so impressed that she sent an email encouraging her peers to do the same. The result? More than 20 faculty members welcomed in-class presentations on voting! This particular faculty member had social capital on campus that was advantageous for convincing her peers that this was a worthwhile use of class time. Working alongside faculty to find ways to discuss civic engagement in the classroom isn’t simple, but a good start is finding an ally that can speak from experience that discussing voting in the classroom can be both positive and productive.